Dolphins' first-round pick Dion Jordan (shoulder) sidelined

Rookie is on active/non-football injury list and won't practice until his status changes

July 21, 2013|By Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel

DAVIE — Dolphins rookie defensive end Dion Jordan will have to wait a while longer to get his NFL career started. Jordan, the No. 3 pick of the draft out of Oregon, has been placed on the active/non-football injury list, which means he can't participate in training camp practices until he's put on the active roster.

It wasn't the ideal way for the Dolphins to open training camp Sunday. But Dolphins coach Joe Philbin didn't seem disappointed by anything that happened on the first day of practice.

"I thought overall the first practice went very, very well," he said.

Jordan's status is due to the February surgery he had to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Jordan, who is being counted on to team with left defensive end Cameron Wake and form one of the NFL's most dangerous set of bookend pass rushers, called the situation "frustrating."

"But I understand my health is the main concern right now so that's what I'm going to focus on," he said.

Jordan, the first defensive player drafted this year, signed a four-year contract on Saturday but said his roster status wasn't a surprise.

"I knew a couple of days ago," he said. "It's something coach and the people in the training room decided was best for me."

Jordan, who had 14.5 sacks in his career at Oregon, remains somewhat of a mystery. Teammates still don't know anything about the slender 6-5, 250-pounder who, despite missing most of the offseason workouts, passed his conditioning test on Saturday.

Jordan's designation was about the only downer Sunday, a day when the Dolphins' 8 a.m. opening practice of training camp was at overflow capacity.

The Dolphins distributed 2,000 free tickets to fans via its website, but attendance soared to about 2,700 counting the 400 or so standing room-only tickets and another 300 or so people in suites.

The weather conditions were relatively gentle for South Florida — cloudy with the temperature hovering around the mid-80s, but it felt more like the upper-90s with the sweat-inducing humidity. Wide receiver Mike Wallace, who spent the previous four seasons in Pittsburgh, learned something about his teammates.

"I know they're mentally tough because this humidity is something serious," Wallace said with a smile. "I've never been around anything like this."

As for on-field happenings, quarterback Ryan Tannehill's connection to Wallace and his other receivers needs a bit of work but neither player seemed too concerned.

"It wasn't our cleanest day," Tannehill said. "We definitely had some rust to knock off, but it's a good start."

The quarterbacks and receivers aren't alone in their unfamiliarity. Many of the Dolphins have to get acquainted with one another. They'll likely have new starters at left tackle (Jonathan Martin), right tackle (Tyson Clabo), tight end (Dustin Keller), wide receivers (Wallace, Brandon Gibson), defensive ends (Jordan or Olivier Vernon), linebackers (Dannell Ellerbe, Philip Wheeler) and cornerbacks (Brent Grimes, Richard Marshall).

"It's the first day of camp, a step in the right direction," Wake said, "but we've got a long way to go."

Hopes are high for the Dolphins now that it appears the New England Patriots have been weakened by personnel losses. But don't expect a lot of yapping from Miami, which has had four consecutive losing seasons.

"I'm not going to sit here and make [predictions] and shoot my mouth off because it really doesn't get you anywhere," Odrick said. "It's just about the work on the field and that's what we're here to do. That's what training camp is."

The Dolphins' practices on Sunday and Monday are in shorts and jerseys. They have their first practice in pads Tuesday.

"The big thing is when we get the pads on we'll know a little bit more," Philbin said. "I think that's the next step in our evaluation as we go forward, and that'll be coming soon."